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Body discovered in Ravensbury Park, Mitcham

A young man has been found dead, wearing pyjama bottoms and without shoes, in a park by a commuter walking to work.

Police were called to Ravensbury Park, Mitcham, at about 7.30am on Tuesday morning by 26-year-old Terry Firmin, who had discovered a body lying on the ground under a tree next to a bicycle.

It is understood the body had been hanging from a tree branch but had then fallen to the ground.

The man is believed to be 20-years-old, white, with a shaved head and about 5ft 6in. He had was wearing a dark blue ‘puffa’ jacket, light blue pyjama bottoms, but was without shoes.

Mr Firmin said he believed the man was of Eastern European origin after Polish-looking names were discovered on his phone, which had 40 missed calls.

Police had asked Mr Firmin, 26, how to operate the Samsung telephone because they did not know how to access the address book.

Mr Firmin, who walks to work through the park every morning from his home in Morden Hall Road, said: “At first I thought it was flytipping because it didn’t really look like a body and it was still really dark.

“Then I saw it was a boy but I just assumed he had been drinking the night before and his mates had left him there sleeping. I called out to him a few times but there was no answer.

“The way the body was quite scrunched up, he was slumped on his back. He was just lying there, as white as anything. He wasn’t breathing.

“I called 999 and the police were there while I was still on the phone, they were really quick.

“It’s just shocking, especially during Christmas time. I can’t imagine how his poor parents feel. I can’t really stop thinking about it, I just keep seeing that poor boy lying there when I close my eyes.

“If he did kill himself, I just find it weird because he hadn’t dressed properly as if he rushed it.”

A Metropolitan police spokesman confirmed the man was pronounded dead at the scene.

He added: “Next of kin have been informed. A post-mortem examination, formal identification and inquest are yet to be scheduled.

“Enquiries continue into the circumstances of the incident - at this stage it is being treated as non-suspicious and officers are not seeking anyone else in connection with the death.”